Orioles offer no contracts to Reynolds, Quintanilla, Pomeranz

The Baltimore Orioles' incredible 2012 season saw a host of guys willing to do whatever was asked, and then somehow do it better than expected.

None more so than Mark Reynolds, who reinvented himself as a plus first baseman and showcased his power down the stretch.

But Friday night, Reynolds became a free agent.

The Orioles non-tendered the free swinger, allowing Reynolds to test the market. He could still return, but he alluded to the fact it would be nice to play for a team that does spring training near his home in Arizona.

The 29-year-old batted .221/.335/.429 with 23 home runs and 69 RBI in 135 games for the Orioles last season. In his two years with Baltimore, Reynolds hit .221/.328/.458 with 60 home runs and 155 RBI in 290 games.

Reynolds has hit 20 or more home runs in each of the last five seasons. He was great in the clubhouse, and regardless whether he returns, will always be part of Orioles Magic in 2012.

Quintanilla, 31, batted .232/.284/.354 with three home runs and 12 RBI in 36 games for the Orioles after being acquired from the New York Mets on July 20.

Earlier in the day, the Orioles announced a trade with Pittsburgh to bring infielder Yamaico Navarro to Baltimore in exchange for right-handed pitcher Jhondaniel Medina. To make room for Navarro, the Orioles designated the 27-year-old Pomeranz for assignment.

The Orioles went 93-69, finishing behind the Yankees in an AL East race decided on the final night, and ended a streak of 14 consecutive losing seasons.

The Orioles went 93-69, finishing behind the Yankees in an AL East race decided on the final night, and ended a streak of 14 consecutive losing seasons.

The teams were within one run of each other at the end of 46 of 52 innings in the division series. New York totaled just 16 runs in the five games and Baltimore 10.

Hammel retired his first 12 batters before a single to right leading off the fifth by Teixeira, a star at Baltimore's Mount Saint Joseph High School.

Fans everywhere, win or lose, are very happy for the O's having an Omazing season! Here's Michele Cobosco Sudo's son, Max, an O's fan who just turned 5 on Tuesday.

O's fans all over Birdland watched Friday night with tension.

Sabathia pitched a four-hitter, wriggling out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium.

The crowd of 47,081 was the smallest for a postseason game at new Yankee Stadium, which opened in 2009.

With a 5:07 p.m. start on the first chilly night of autumn, there was an unusual sight at Yankee Stadium at the start -- large patches of empty seats. And Baltimore fans could be heard chanting "O'' during "The Star-Spangled Banner." But the ballpark filled up by the middle innings.

J.J. Hardy hits an RBI double in the 13th inning, bringing Baltimore bounced back from a demoralizing loss to outlast the Yankees and force a deciding Game 5 in the AL division series.

Buck speaks with the media ahead of Game 4.

New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi speaks to the media ahead of Game 4.

The Yankees take reps at shortstop with Jayson Nix, who took over in Game 4 for Derek Jeter batting at DH.

WBAL-TV 11's Pete Gilbert and WBAL Radio's Brett Hollander prepare to cover Game 3 of the American League Division Series.

The Tunbridge Public Charter School shows its support for the O's.

The Orioles Bird leads the crowd in a cheer.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake led the charge in unveiling the new banner at City Hall.

Hundreds of Orioles fans showed up Wednesday at a rally to support the Orioles as they get set to play the Yankees in Game 3 of the ALDS.

With a heavy cloud cover and a mist in the air, the O's take to batting practice before the second game of the ALDS.

Watch the postseason unfold with LIVE coverage with the O's on WBAL-TV 11 News and wbaltv.com

The BUCKleUP rally towels wave from TV Hill to Camden Yards!

The Orioles gave fans BUCKleUp towels for Sunday's game, which likely came in great handy in the rain. They sure made The Yard glow orange when fans stood, cheering and waving their towels. Show your orange!

Awesome, just in time for October ball.

Jesse, 1, is totally ready for the game!

Perry Hall High School shooting victim Daniel Borowy got to throw out the first pitch Sunday night at Game 1 of the Orioles-Yankees ALDS series.

Jesse Wasmer, a Perry Hall High School faculty member, joined Borowy on the mound. He's credited with tackling the gunman during the school shooting.

O's fans are coming up with awesome signs for the series.

Those lucky enough to get tickets to the home ALDS games are proudly showing their prized possessions online.

Rain may have delayed the start of Game 1 of the ALDS by 2 hours, 26 minutes, but that did nothing to lessen the enthusiasm of the 47,841 fans who endured 14-straight losing season while waiting for the Orioles to play a postseason game at Camden Yards.

Even these fans couldn't be happier to be standing five-rows deep to see their beloved O's play in the postseason.

O's fans are stocking up big time on their postseason Orioles gear.

O's fans go wild during Game 1 of the ALDS.

Players line the baselines as Game 1 of the ALDS gets under way after a more than two-hour rain delay.

For eight innings, the sellout crowd was treated to tense duel that typified the competition between two division foes that split 18 games during the regular season and finished two games apart in the standings.

But then, the New York Yankees break a 2-run tie by scoring five times in the ninth inning to beat the Orioles in a rain-delayed first game of the American League Division Series.

The O's take to the Texas field Friday, hours before they would face off against the Rangers.

Dan Duquette, the Orioles' executive vice president of baseball operations, offers his perspective ahead of the American League Wild Card Game in Texas.

Left-hander Joe Saunders started for the O's (3-3, 3.63 ERA, 23 Ks, 8 BBs in 44 2-3 innings over seven starts with Orioles). He pitched effectively into the sixth inning at a place where he had never won.

The surprising O's have already beaten some big odds, getting past the two-time defending AL champion Texas Rangers and their Japanese ace, Yu Darvish, in the win-or-go-home wild-card playoff.

Adam Jones

The upstart Orioles spent the whole second half chasing New York, never passing them and falling just short in a neck-and-neck race for the division title.

Turns out, the Yankees haven't brushed off these Birds just yet.

After twice coming with a strike of winning last year's World Series, this season is over that quickly for the Rangers, who were in first place for a majors-high 178 days this season.

The Rangers lost the AL West crown on the final day of the regular season, after being swept in three games at Oakland for a stretch of nine losses their last 13 games.

Their worst slump of the season came at the wrong time for Ron Washington's team, which a week ago had a four-game division lead with six games to play. Because of that, they couldn't avoid the AL's new winner-take-all postseason opener, and then couldn't get past the Orioles with their top pitcher on the mound.

When the Rangers committed more than $107 million last winter to acquire Darvish, they did so with the anticipation he'd be on the mound for many big games.

Saunders quickly gave up the Orioles' 1-0 lead in the first, but that was the only run he allowed in 5 2-3 innings. The left-hander struck out four and walked one.

Even though it was the postseason, the Orioles stuck to the regular Friday night uniforms -- including black tops and caps with script O's -- instead of the traditional smiling cartoon bird.

Four pitches into the game, the Orioles had a lead against Darvish, who struck out seven in 6 2-3 innings.

Nate McLouth grounded Darvish's first pitch toward first baseman Michael Young. The longest-tenured Rangers player got charged with an error when he tried to backhand the ball, which ricocheted off the heel of his glove and away from him.

McLouth stole second base on the third pitch. J.J. Hardy then drove him in by grounding a hard single up the middle -- the Orioles had only one more hit until a sequence in the sixth that needed some interpretation.

Baltimore is the only AL team that Darvish, the 26-year-old rookie from Japan, didn't face in the regular season.

The O's had consecutive singles to start the sixth before Jones' sacrifice fly made it 2-1.

Texas had scored at least 10 runs three times against the O's this season.

Texas went 5-1 last year against the Orioles, then opened this season's series between the teams with wins of 14-3 and 10-3, a big reason why Baltimore had a negative run-differential until September. The Rangers also won 12-3 on Aug. 22. Baltimore's two wins in the series this year were by scores of 6-5 and 5-3.

Even if a second wild card hadn't been added this year, the Orioles and Rangers would have been playing a winner-take-all game since both had 93 wins in the regular season.

Under the old playoff rules, they would have met in a 163rd regular-season game the next day to determine the only wild card, with the winner hitting the road to open the division series.

With the new format, it was a postseason game after an extra day -- when Washington gave his team off after being swept in Oakland and losing the AL West crown on the regular season's final day.

The new rules also eliminated the prohibition against teams from the same division meeting in the ALDS, setting up the Orioles and Yankees.

For the Rangers, they're headed into their longest offseason in three years.

But what do O's fans care about? They take notice to Adam Jones playing in all 162 games, and the fact that the Orioles are 23-8 when he homers.

Is there a bigger O's fan than Romeo Santos?

Showalter has credited, and thanked, the players for the team's success and for "having (him) along for the ride."

This is also Dan Duquette's first season as executive vice president of baseball operations. Through shrewd trades and free-agents additions, he added much-needed depth to a thin roster.

The Orioles went 29-9 in one-run games and have won amazing 16-straight in extra innings.

WBAL-TV's Pete Gilbert reports LIVE on 11 News from Tropicana Field in Florida.

These Orioles are patterned after those Earl Weaver teams of long ago. Rarely do they seek to manufacture runs with bunts and steals; rather, they rely on the three-run homer. The formula has worked. Baltimore hit 127 homers at Camden Yards, its most at home in one season.

Buck Showalter speaks with the media in the dugout at St. Petersburg, Fla.

An awesome tree our very own Pete Gilbert encountered while in Florida. What's that hiding in there?

Michelle Wittig and her family travel to Tampa Bay to see the O's and ran into our crew! Thanks for sending the picture!

A very clever sign. Wonder if Mr. Clancy saw it from his box.

The last time the Baltimore Orioles won the American League East was in 1997.

Coincidentally, Johnson is again in the postseason, only now, with the Washington Nationals -- the first postseason berth in franchise history.

The last time dem O's won the AL Division Series was on Oct. 5, 1997 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

The series went to five games, the last of which sealed the deal for an O's victory over the Seattle Mariners, which started Randy Johnson on the mound.

The O's started Mike Mussina. You remember him, right? Before he left for, where was it? Ah, it doesn't matter.

Randy Myers earned the save, and the Orioles beat the Mariners, 3-1. The O's took the series 3-1.

54,198 fans filled The Yard at Game 5.

Then, the O's faced the Cleveland Indians in the AL Championship Series, one that would go to six games.

And, the sixth game -- on Oct. 15, 1997 -- remained scoreless until the 11th inning in front of 49,075 fans at The Yard.

Chuck Thompson and Fred Manfra had the call on WBAL 1090 AM, and MASN was still HTS.

The Orioles have played in the World Series six times, winning in 1966, 1970 and 1983. The other years were 1969, 1971, and 1979.

Immediately after Sunday's game, about two dozen players and coaches took scoreboard watching to a new level by staying on the field at Camden Yards and rooting for the Texas Rangers to win the opener of a double-header against the Los Angeles Angels.

Watching with thousands of their closest friends, the Rangers had the Angels down to two outs in the top of the ninth with a 4-3 score.

A clinch would mean the Orioles would get its postseason clinch.

Well, the Angels came back to win the game 5-4, leaving the Orioles to pack up and get ready for their flight to Tampa Bay.

They thanked the fans who stuck around, many of whom stayed to watch the end of the Texas-Los Angeles game.

Baltimore clinched its 2012 playoff late Sunday when the Texas Rangers beat the Los Angeles Angels 8-7 in the night game.

Pitcher Jim Johnson told MLB Network, "It's been a long time, and the fans have been coming out and have been cheering us on the whole year, and that's what we've been looking forward to. You saw that when we finished at home and we wanted to share that with them in the ballpark, and things just didn't work out that way to clinch a spot in the playoffs. Our goal is to go as far as we can, play hard, and hopefully give the fans something to see firsthand."

Adam Jones told MLB Network that it is indeed important to bring the postseason back to Baltimore because the fans have waited a long time, and it's important for the city itself.

Stores downtown have posted signs in support of the O's.

Babe Ruth would be so proud.

Manny Machado was playing for Double-A Bowie when the Orioles purchased his contract on Aug. 9 and made him the starting 3B. Although groomed to be a shortstop, the 20-year-old rookie has handled the hot corner efficiently and showed surprising punch at the plate.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake presents to Adam Jones the key to the city.

Miguel Gonzalez

Nate McLouth

Matt Wieters

Matt Wieters

Mark Reynolds

J.J. Hardy

Jim Johnson's 51 saves are a club record, shattering Randy Myers' mark of 45 in 1997.

Chris Tillman

Chris Davis homered in six straight games before streak ended in regular-season finale. His late push enabled him to overtake Jones as team leader in HRs and RBIs.

Mark Reynolds

J.J. Hardy

Wei-Yin Chen (right) with his translator (left)

Jim Johnson's 51 saves are a club record, shattering Randy Myers' mark of 45 in 1997.

Chris Tillman

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Forty years ago, one of the greatest boxing matches in history took place in an unlikely setting: the capital of the Philippines. Muhammad Ali's epic win over great rival Joe Frazier in 1975 became known as the "Thrilla in Manila."